This makes me sick!

Posts: 248

POSTED: 9:55 am EDT May 30, 2008
UPDATED: 11:25 am EDT May 30, 2008

MARIETTA, Ga. -- A woman who was one of two people killed in a motorcycle crash during a police chase Friday was identified.

State Patrol spokesman Larry Schnall said Kathleen Marie Dukes, 20, was killed along with a man when their motorcycle crashed Friday morning in Marietta. The man has not been named.

Schnall said troopers began chasing a group of motorcyclists who were speeding on Interstate 75 in Atlanta after 12:30 a.m. Friday.

The chase went from Atlanta into Cobb County, where one of the bikes ran off the road.

Schnall said the motorcycle slammed into the side of a parked van, ejecting Dukes and the man. He said it then crashed into the front of an electrical business, shattering the front window

Posts: 1832

Obviously a case where two wrongs did not make a right, and worse someone innocent was killed.
I know there are laws regarding speeding. But at the same time the federal goverment allows motorcycles that will go 150-200 miles per hour on our highways. Isn't that temptation? Isn't that temptation wrong? At the same time with the feds building extreemly wide interstate highways (what a better place to speed?), setting speed limits that are hard to follow for 150 horsepower motorcycles, and then giving young state troopers the "sic 'em fido" authority to catch them, Isn't that just as much of a temptation and isn't that just as wrong?
Now some families are suffering the loss of two loved ones, also property damage has occured to an innocent persons vehicle and anothers business.
What will the goverment do to help these people heal and rebuild? Probably nothing. To them its just business as usual and their only loss was the revenue of collecting on a speeding ticket Confused

Posts: 1201

another well said comment team913
it takes two to tangle,looks like when this was happening the law enforcement would have backed off seeing what could happen and what was going to happened and saved them for another day.
i'm not saying it was wright to run but i was young and dumb once to been down that road before but luck be with me i made it,they did get me in the end.hate this happened to them.
pud

Posts: 195

I rode bikes for 30 years (past tense). I traded my last bike for my buggy. Its strange, even though I rarely know the people involved, every time I read stories like this my heart breaks.

That being said, from my perspective the responsibility - all of it - for this tragedy belongs to just one person, the driver of the bike. Yes, big street bikes can go insanely fast (been there done that). The bike didn't twist the throttle by itself, the driver of the bike chose to run. The story doesn't really provide any great detail as to exactly what the cops were doing so its hard to say for sure, but it sounds like they were doing what they were supposed to do, enforce the law - trying to out run them was a mistake.

Posts: 1832

Hopefully you do understand I love my Country. I am in meetings at least twice a month where before we begin business at hand we stand a say the "Pledge of Allegiance", and unlike Barak Obama, we all place our hands over our hearts.
Johnny, I too have been riding for a long time. I got my first minibike at 12, started riding street bikes at 16, and am still at it today (rode my harley to work today). PM me if you want to know how many years total I have been riding HA! I have alot of law enforcement friends (good friends), so its not the officers. Its the policies I have a problem with. Its the loss of life and destruction of property the policies bring to the table. Let me give you a good example. I was in Daytona Beach for bike week in 2005 standing in the parking lot of my Hotel when all of a sudden a Toyota 4runner blew by me probably at 70 or more miles per hour, with a Daytona officer hot in pursuit. Appx 50 yards past me the driver of the 4runner decides to pass a big touring motorcycle with 2 people aboard. Little did he know the driver of the bike was making a left turn, so as the driver of the bike turned left, the driver of the 4runner passed on the left and hit the motorcycle killing both the driver and passenger. Of course now he was really in trouble and continued on at an even faster rate of speed with the officer again hot in pursuit. This could have all been avoided if there was roadblocks on the 2 bridges leading into and out of where we all this was happening. It was BIKE WEEK for Petes sake! There was appx 360,000 bikers there. It could just as easily been me that died that day. The police have got to find a smarter and less dangerous (to the innocent public) way to catch these lawbreakers. The general publics safety is too at risk now for police officers and highway patrol to go hell bent for leather trying to apprehend a speeder. Sorry, I just see a better way around this Idea

Posts: 2634

lol... I have a motorcycle for sale... it does maybe 90 miles per hour... Wont get in too much trouble with this classic!!! lol

I think if you were running from cops, you gotta believe something bad is going to happen... As a passenger on a bike, you are limited in what you do, but you dont have to participate fully!! Sux to be the two that died, but in all honesty, you get what you deserve... I fully believe in karma and I hate to read about people dying, but when you hear some of the circumstances, you cant see any other possible ending to the story...

Just alst year, a 17 year old with NO motorcycle license or permit bought a ninja. Sped down a ramp to get onto RT 80 with a couple buddies on bike... Witnesses said they were doing 75 mph and the bikes passed them like they were standind still. One cyclist later admitted to doing in excess of 130mph to "test out" the bikes...

Welp, as you probably guess already, the inexperienced 17 year old hit the pavement at 130mph... I still dont think they picked up every piece of the kid... He wobbled, droped and ended up through a jersey barrier...

I cant believe how people can be so ignorant. it is a darn shame... The whole town knew this kid, and everyone was crying and upset adn hundreds and hundreds of people attened the funeral, but honestly, how many people look at this and say, "what a flippin idiot!"... I do...

Idiots...

John Shocked

Posts: 1869

The last thing we need is more government intervention. The people on the bike made a bad decision and paid for it. We need more Darwinism to weed out the stupid people. The ones that survive should be treated in a manner that would make death the better option. The rest of us should not have to pay for their mistakes with more regulation.

Yes - My bike will do triple digits with the front wheel off ground, but it doesn't mean I drive it that way.

- M/C rider since 1981

Posts: 92

I have to agree with these last posts. The police has a job and responcability to uphold the law. Laws that we as a people both request and require from our government. Am I saying I agree with everything our government does? NO However when we were all growing up we knew what the laws of our house were and we knew the reprocussions where going to be. Did we break those laws, Yes. Did we suffer those reprocussions, Yes.
As far as the temptation issue goes, we are tempted everyday with what we shouldn't do. Either by slaping the crap out of a coworker, or the money that exchanges hands, grabing a persons laptop when they turn around, or when an attractive woman gives you "that look". Go home and tell your wife "I had an affare, but its not my fault she was pretty and she gave me "that look" its not my fault." Everyone including the driver of the bike has got to accept personal responceability for there actions. The cop was doing exactly what he as an officer of the law is commanded to do by the law. The driver was not. At any point he could have pulled over and accepted respoceability for he actions no matter what the rest of his freinds were doing. If this person had pulled over yes he would have gotten ribbed for being a wimp but he would have been alive for it atleast. AND from the way I understand the time frame and location, open road, late at night with little to no traffic... They may have just gotten a "look I know you want to see what your bikes can do but next time be a little more careful." and thats it. Plus whats the price of a ticket at max $200. That driver thought that his life, his freinds life, and having a stupid story to tell was worth less than $200.
From the way I read the first post you think there should be more regulation? Well a beautiful woman can causes an affair, does that mean that all the beautiful women should be uglyed up? By who's standerd? We as a people don't want more regulation. Regulating the speed capability on a motor cyle doesn't affect you or I per say. So that kind of regulation is ok. but would you get peved if they put much more regulation on where we can ride our buggys? lets say a guy or a couple of guys really made ruts in orv park. Would you like them to make a regulation that there will be no more orv parks because there are some people with a lack of self control?

Posts: 92

Sorry this is a hot button for me. I don't get ticked but...

If an person wants to live in a place where the is "no law" they should move to a country with "no law" my wife is from South Africa where there is "no law". but just remember everyone else there has no law to follow also. Would you have been as upset if there were no cop involved and the driver would have hit school bus or a van with a baby? There are countless, countless more stories of that happening than this case where the driver was given the chance to accept responceablity for there actions. Pay the ticket and chalk it up.

Posts: 2634

pghruby--- LOL--- I was born in 81! Shocked

lol

john Very Happy